Summer Wardrobe | Polka Dot Silk Tank

Dudes, I am SO JAZZED with this new shirt! Do you remember a few weeks ago when I posted about my Friday failure? I originally bought this fabric to make this shirt but when my friend showed up at my apartment wearing a black and white print midi skirt I had the thought that this would be a pretty cute one. Totally misguided like woah. Lesson learned, go with your first plan. This fabric has way too much body to be gathered into something like that. Luckily I was able to cut the originally planned top out of the skirt and salvage this awesome fabric. The pattern is a hound ss12 pattern and I think it goes well with the drape of this fabric.

Since I butchered my yardage I was unable to cut the bias pieces to finish the neck and armholes out of the polka dot and had to improvise with some cotton chambray instead. I think the color contrast turned out pretty cute and finishing these edges in double georgette would have been a bit of a nightmare so win win on that. Also can we talk about this awesome necklace? I borrowed it from Sarah of Cursive Design (mmm more like took it off her neck, she made me do it!) while we were shopping for new outfits last week because it went with the shirt and polka dot pants I bought to wear to a wedding that night and I CANNOT stop wearing it. Woweee people pure necklace love.

That’s exactly what I want to wear all of the time! It looks so stylish and comfortable. Great save!! I’ve had projects go either way… sometimes my initial ideas are terrible.

OMG. I can use cotton for bindings on silk?? Should I do that? I want to finish my silk tiny pocket tank (then make five more), but I can not get a handle on it. I haven’t tried hand basting. Or really anything except for staring at it, but I want it to be DONE.

Love your styling! Those shoes are darling and I’m pretty much obsessed with Cursive Design.

Oh I have so many terrible ideas all the time, I got major lucky on this save!

You should TOTALLY just use cotton! Not gonna lie, I hate doing the bias facings on silk, almost always do regular bias binding instead. Definitely don’t waste your time hand basting, just pre-wash that cotton if you plan on washing your top, finish that sucker up and move on!

This is my favorite kind of outfit! I’m totally echoing Stephanie here but yes – this is EXACTLY what I want to wear every day for the rest of my life!
I’m also a huge fan of cursive design – must buy a necklace like that one of these days…

So cute, of course! We are kind of polka dot twins now because last year I made a tank very similar to yours with silk crepe with similar dots (mine are a little bigger, I think). Polka dots are the best!

It is pretty different as far as tank tops go. The main differences are that this top has a wider hem that is shorter in front and longer in back, no darts, a higher neckline and lower armholes. I think you could adapt the Tiny Pocket into something similar without too much trouble though! Let me know if you give it a go!

As I mentioned above, this tank has a wider hem that is shorter in front a lower in back, no darts, a higher neckline and lower armholes than the Tiny Pocket Tank. That said, there’s no reason you can’t adapt the Tiny Pocket Tank into something pretty similar. Let me know if you do or have more q’s!

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Hello, I'm Jen, a designer & patternmaker living in Chicago, IL. I publish a line of sewing patterns, post tutorials, tips & tricks, and personal projects. For more info about myself, the patterns, and a few FAQ, click here